Buoyant articles and process of making same.



folk and State of Virginia,

ROBERT #T-HELSTM MARE,

0F NQBEOLK, AISSIQNOB AMERICAN WOOD OFFICE.

BUOYANT ARTICLES AND P305353 91 LlZLfi.

Mo Drawing.

To all whom it ma concern Be it known t at I, Bomr ATHELSTAN i1 a citizen of the United States, residing-at Ghent, Norfolk, in the county of Norhave invented certain new and useful Improvements in Buoyant Articles and Processes of Making Same, of which the following is a specification. i

The present invention relates to the treatment of wood, and has special reference to the treatment of certain varieties of wood having a low specific gravity, to render them particularly suitable for use making various buoyant articles, such as life preservers, fenders, floats, buoys and the like.

It is a well known fact that certain varieties of wood, particularly balsa and ceiba v woods, are very light, that is they possess a very low specific gravity (about .25) and it has been proposed to use these woods in place of cork in life belts and similar devices, but it has been found that these woods are not entirely suited for the purposes mentioned, for the reasons, first, that they readily absorb and take up large quantities of water, which eatly decrease their buoyancy and secon y tack, such as attacks by teredo and other wood destroying organisms. These ob ectionable properties render the wood in ts natural condition, unsuited for use in life preservers and in substantially all buoyant articles, especially those destined-to be used insea water, and accordingly most of the suggestions herel JfOIB made i or so employing these varieties of wood have not been entirely successful.

In the present invention I treat said wood with a bath containing parafiin, rosin, and dietomaceous earth or equivalents thereof, which process, I have found to be particIl larly suitable for the application to the varieties of wood above referred to, and I have also found that certain modifications of this process are also capable of producing excellent results in the treatment of woods of these stated varieties and similar kinds of wood, suitable for useiin the production of buoyant articles, as well as for structural purposes.

In carrying out my present invention,

Specification of mm Patent.

Application filed January is, 191a. semi m. mime.

these varieties of wood a are very susceptible to decay and insect at or no 5.

eon

wood (of the finds specified) in pieces of suitable size and shape for use in making life preservers or for any other desired use, is subjected to the action of a bath comprising paraifin, and diatomaceous earth, towhioh bath a small amount of Paris green or a dyesoluble in the bath, or both, may or may not be added, depending upon whether or not the production of certain properties is desired. a This bath will preferably be used in the first part of the process, at a temperature somewhat above the boiling point of water, a temperature of 250 F., being suitable, during the action of which bath, the moisture content of the wood is largely or entirely driven out, and more or less of the bath isabsorbed by the wood. The temperature of the bath may be lowered more or less, depending upon the amount of impre ation or'encysting of the wood which is esii'e'd. F or-the production of blocks ofwood for use in life pmservens, it is ordinarily not necessary or desirable to give a heavy impregnation, for the reason that it is desirable to produce a finished product, as low a specific gravity aspossible, in order to have high buoyant eflect. order to produce the low impregnation, I preferably do not allow the temperature of the bath to fall more than a few degrees, say from 250 F. at the beginning of the operation, down to 180 or 200 F., at which point the wood is preferably removed from the bath, and allowed to furthat cool to ordinary temperature.

Instead of allowing the temperature of the entire bath to fall, after the wooden articles have been immersed in the hot bath for a short time, at a temperature of 250 F. (more or less) I may remove said articles from the bath, and immerse the two ends of the same (fimt one end and then the other) in a bath'of similar composition, or another bath, maintained at a temperature of 180 F., (more or less).

The second bath, that is to say the bath employed in the second step, of which the temperature may as above stated, be about 180' E, be composed of the same materials as employed in the first bath, said materials being in the same or in different goportions, Thisbath may also if desired.

composed of dill'erent materials from Patented Dec. 22, 1914..

-25 about180 F., during two minutes has in those emplo ed in the first bath. Obviously the materia s employed in the second bath, must be such materials as will not injure the wood, or the amount of the first bath which has been absorbed by the wood. ()ne of the functions of the same bath is to cool the wood more or less, in order to condense any particles of steam which may be contained therein, and thereby suck in whatever l0 amount of the first bath ma be adhering to the outside of the block or wood, also if the wood is'allowed to remain for a considerable time in the second bath, a material amount of the ingredients of the second bath will also be sucked into the wood, or

absorbed thereby. a The time oi immersion and cooling y vary more orless depending on the size of thezwooden' pieces, the amount of impregnation desired, moisture content of the wood,

' and'othe'r factors, but I have found that for "blocks otbalsa wood of two inches square, f [and four inches long, a hot bath (say 250 i for five minutes and then coolin to flound to give excellent results.

The impregnation of the surface ortions of the wood is in this manner me e uite romplete, while the interior portions o the svood are not saturated with the im regnating material; but a small amount 0 the material will be carried, by means of the large ducts existing in these varieties of wood,

practically throughout the body of the meterial, whereby the parafin, naphthalene and diatomaceous earth, are caused to be thoroughly disseminated in very small amounts, through the entire body of the wood, while the small air spaces throu bout the body of the wood are not filled wi the impregnated material. In this way I can produce blocks having very. low specific gravities which are thoroughly and completely :waterprooted, and preserved against rot, and attack of marine insects and similar wood destroying agencies.

As a modified mode of procedure, I can incase the blocks of wood, in the duck, canvas or other fabric forming the body of the life belt or similar structure, and then treat the finished article by the process of impregnation, which not only preserves the wood, but also preserves the fabric against the destructive agencies such as dry rot and the like.

In making certain other Kinds of buoyant articles, it is not desired to produce such a high degree of buo ancy, instances of this being life boats, fen ers, buoys forv anchoring boats and the like, and in the treatment of articles of this character, 1 find that a heavy impregnation of the article with the preservative specified is a material advantage, since these articles are likely to as deeply chipped by the action of boats er; l

l'naneee ing the same, and otherwise, and a complete impregnation or substantial saturation of the woods in uestion is particularly advantageous, in order to insure the article against decay or insect attack, at those points where 79 the article has received in'ury.

The use of rosin as a ove stated. is a distinct advance in the art. This mate rial hardens'the wood to a material extent and makes the wood tou her, also the H4 so treated-is easier to c ingto, on account of the adhesiveness of thd-lf surface. This material aids in the impregnation, by acting use carrier to exist in the impregnation.

It has heretofore been proposed to im- 39 gregnate wood by immersing the same in a ath containing molten parafin; however, such a treatment does not give any material amount of impregnatiomon account of the fact that the, parafiin. is notreadily ab- 3: sorbe'd' by wood,whether the wood be green or dry. The addition of rosinlin the present invention aids in the absorption of the impregnatin material by the wood.

in pro ucin the heavy impregnation, in such cases as a ove referred to, I preferably introduce the wood, in a rathermoist con; dition, into a bath of the specified materials, at a somewhat higher temperature, say 250 to 275 F., 260 being preferred, then allow 5 the temperature to drop slowly, while the wood is immersed in the li uid, to a tern-v perature down to near the so lidifying point of the treating bath, or by treating in a hot bath, and then a cold bath, for a rather 1 long time.

In carrying out the im regnation process in all the modifications tlie material. is immersed and held under the surface of the bath. I desire to call attention to the factthat the wood when so treated, may be coated, if so desired, over all or a part of its surface with paint, either for ornamentation, or marking purposes. In using ordinary paint, it is preferable to first apply a coat of shellac.

if desired I may add to the impregnatin bath any suitable oil-soluble dye, which wi be carried into the wood, wherever the preservative is carried. v

The bath used in impregnating the material may consist of the materials in the following proportions by weight, although the invention is not limited thereto, and the proportions maybe materially altered with- 1 out departing from the spirit of the in vention; parafiin 100 parts, rosin 5 to 10 parts, diatornaceous earth 2v to 7 parts, to which may be added if desired, Paris green 1 art, more or less.

he use of diatomaceous earth in this consection has a special function, since this material incl at suficient fineness, so that 90% thereof will passthrough the meshes of a bolting cloth having 0,000 meshes to its face portions of the article.

the square inch. This material is also extremely hard, being composed of substantially pure silica, and I find that this material is very much harder than the mandibles of biting parts of marine insects such as teredo, limnorie and the like, which are composed essentially of calcium carbonate. From the relative hardness of these two, it will be apparent that whenever these insects attempt to bore into wood or other materials impregnated with distomaceous earth, their mandibles will very be destroyed, which will 'efiectively stroy or kill theinsects. It will be noted also that diatomnceous earth has n particular advantage over many of the other materials of similar hardness, since it is wholly can not be affected or destroyed by sea water or the like. The use of Paris green in this connection is materially difierent from the diatomaceousearth, since it is not carried into the interstices of the wood, to any great extent, but remains as a surface coating on the wood.

The wood Ior ring buoys may be made in the form of rings, which may be built up (composed of three or more layers, united by a suitable and these may be covered by dock or the like, before impregnation, if desired. Also I may treat the wood in-the form of large pieces, logs or the like, and afterward, if small pieces are needed Inlay cut-this to produce pieces of .the proper size particular use, if so desired This method is-not to be generally recommended, in the case of material having a very light impregnation, sinceit is desirable to have a rather heavy superficial impregnation over the sur- This method is however sometimes advantageous in the manufacture of heavily impregnated blocks, boards, etc.

For light impregnation, I may use wood in its air dry condition, to advantage, while for heavy impregnation 1 preferably use wood which is more or less saturated with Water, or sap. Green wood, directly after being cut is suitable.

It is my opinion, that the dissemination of the preservative throughout the body of the yvood, is aided by osmosis.

The impregnation of Wood of the veneties above referred to, uu'th a mixture of parafiin, naphthalene, and dintomuceous earth, with or without rosin and Paris green. is claimed in my copcnding application Serial X0. 811,909, filed concurrently herewith.

The impregnation of fabrics and certain other materials by the methods described in this application, forms the subject matter of my copending applications Nos. 811,911 and 811,912, filed concurrently herewith.

The treatment of woods generally, perinert and waterproof glue) if desired,

for the steps of ticularly lumber, piling, and railroad ties, by means of .a preservative comprising parafiim naphthalene, and diatomaceous earth is claimed in my copending application Serial No. 747,169, filed Feb. s, 1913.

The treatment of wood with a preservetire including Paris green as described herein, is claimed in my copending application 811 914.

rim 1 claim is:-

1. A process of treating woods of low specific grevities, which comprises impregnat ing said woods, with n. ".1. comprising rosin, and 1a melted hydrocarbon materiel, said mixture containing a. finely divided solid material.

2. A process "of treating Woods of low specific gravities, which comprises lightly impregnating said woods, with a w 1 prising rosin, and a melted hydrocarbon material, said containing s finely divided solid material.-

3. A process of woods of low specific gravity, which comprises immersing said woods in a both comprising paralhn, rosin, and diatomaceous earth, While said wood contains some moisture.

at. A process of treating moist woods of low specific gravities, said process comprising imme gh'the Wood of the class specified, in a he comprising puraiiin, rosin,

a dye soluble -therein, and diatomaceous.

earth.

5. A process of treating wood of low specific gravity said process comprising the placing saidwood in a permeable envelop, and thereafter subjecting same toa heated hath containing pernilin, rosin, and diatomaceous earth.

1 B. A process of wood of low specific gravity which comprises immersing the same in a bath containing paraiiimrosin and diatomnceous earth, at a temperature above the point of water, then treating the same a bath composed of material not injurious to wood, or to said first both, said second bath being maintained at a temperature lower than that employed in said treatment.

7'. A process of treating balsa and ceilm wood, which comprises treating same with a bath containing diatomnceous and a vehicle insoluble in water, said vehicle including rosin.

8. A process of treating ceiha and similar varieties of wood which comprises treating the some with a bath com: rising para-ilin, rosin and diatomaceous e at a high temperature, then with n hath contain ing araiiin at a lower temperature, until the dlesired impregnation is secured.

9. A process of treating hols-e, ceiha and similar varieties of wood which comprises treating the same with a hath comprising paraflin, an oil-soluble dye, rosin and diato- ,naceous earth, at a high temperature, then with a second bath comprising paraflin, at a lower temperature, until; the desired impregnation is'secu'red.

10. A process of treating balsa, ceiba, and similar varieties. bf wood, which comprises treating the same with a bath comprising paraflin, an oil-soluble dye, rosin, Paris green, and diatomaeeous earth, at a high temperature, then treating said wood with a .second bath-containing parafiin, said second bath bein' maintained at a lower temperature, unti the desired impregnation is securedi 11. A process of treating balsa, ceiba, and similar varieties of wood which com rises treating the same while incased in a fabric cover with a bath comprising parafiin, rosin and diatomaceous earth, at a high temperature, then with a preservative bath at a ,lower temperature, until the desired impregnation is secured.

4 12. A process of treating woods of relatively low specific gravity, which comprises subjecting the same to the action of a bath containing an insoluble finely divided solid material, having a hardness greater than that of which the biting parts of marine wood destroying insects is composed, an in soluble hydrocarbon carrier'which melts at atemperature below the boiling point of water, and which is solid at ordinary temperatures, and rosin.

13. A process of treating woods of those varieties having a relatively low specific gravity, which comprises subjecting the same to the action of a bath comprising paraffin, rosin, Paris green, and diatomaceous earth.

14. An article of manufacture compris ing a wood of relatively low specific gravity, lregnated with a preservative; including diatomaceous earth, and a vehicle comprising parafiin and rosin.

15. An article of manufacture comprising a wood of relatively low specific gravity, impregnated with a preservative including diatomaceous earth, and a vehicle comprising paraiiin, rosin, an oil-soluble dye.

16. An article of manufacture comprising a wood of relatively low specific gravity, im pregnatedwith a preservative including diatomaoeous earth, and a vehicle comprising'parafin, and rosin, said wood having a coatin of material including Paris g'reen.

' 17. n article of. manufacture comprising a wood of relatively-low specific gravity impregnated with a preservative including diatomaccous earth, and a vehicle comprising parafin and rosin, said wood having a ceous earth.

menses casing of, fabric impregnated with a similar preservative;

18. an article of manufacture compris- 4 ing a balsa wood, impregnated with a preservative including diatomaceous earth, and

ivood of relatively low specific gravity, im-

pre nated with a preservative material inclu ing an insoluble finely divided solid material, having a hardness greater than thatv of the material of which the biting parts of marine wood destroying insects is composed, an insoluble hydrocarboncarrier' which melts at a temperature belowthe boiling point of water, and which is solid at ordinary temperatures, and rosin, said wood being coated with a material including an insoluble poisonous compound;

21. A process -of preserving Wood, which comprises immersing said wood, inra mixture comprising paraiiin, rosin and diatoma- 22. A process of preserving wood, which comprises immersing said wood ina bath containing paraflin, rosin and diatomaceous earth, at a temperature above the boiling point of water, andthen treating the same with a bath 'composed of materlal not injurious to said wood, or to the first bath, said second bath being maintained at a temperature lower than that employed in said first treatment.

23. food impregnated with a preservative including diatomaceous earth'in a vehicle, said vehicle comprising paraffin and IOSIIL a 24. NVoodimpregnated with a preservative comprising dlatomaceous earth in a vehicle, said vehicle comprising paraflin and rosin, said Wood having a coating of a material including Paris green.

"In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature iii presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT ATHELSTAN MARE.

Witnesses:

' JANEY Horn Mann,

A; B. Fos'rnn. 

